THESIS WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS IN COLORADO: UNDERSTANDINGS OF APARTHEID AND POST-APARTHEID SOCIETY Submitted by Christine A. Weeber Department of Anthropology In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Spring 2005 Copyright by Christine A. Weeber 2005 All Rights Reserved COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY March 31, 2005 WE HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER OUR SUPERVISION BY CHRISTINE A. WEEBER ENTITLED WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS IN COLORADO: UNDERSTANDINGS OF APARTHEID AND POST­ APARTHEID SOCIETY BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING IN PART REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS. Committee on Graduate Work Advisor 11 ABSTRACT OF THESIS WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS IN COLORADO: UNDERSTANDINGS OF APARTHEID AND POST-APARTHEID SOCIETY This pilot study focuses on the experiences of two white ethnic groups within the South African immigrant population, Afrikaners and English-speakers, who came of age during two different phases of apartheid, between 1958-1978 and 1979-1993. Race, ethnicity, generational standing, class, and nationalism remain important fault lines, so my analysis is structured to differentiate between the entrenchment and reproduction of these identities during apartheid and the disruption of these in the post-apartheid era and in people's migration to the U.S. Using a phenomenological approach, I investigate three issues: experiences of being white, the culture of apartheid, and immigration. Among the themes that emerged from my interviews are the "schizophrenic" nature of life under apartheid; guilt and responsibility; questions of truth, propaganda, and brainwashing; "Afropessimism" and racism; what it meant to be white under apartheid versus the present 'box of being white'; the 'push factors' of affirmative action and crime; and perspectives of race and racism in the U.S. versus South Africa. I also examine whiteness in these two white ethnic groups and as perceived by black and Colored (mixed race) informants. My research addresses the question of whether or not essential characteristics of whiteness exist, cross-culturally, based on a history of whiteness-as-domination. By applying Pierre Bourdieu's practice theory to whiteness studies, I attempt to account for the complexities of whiteness in this 111 population. Patterns within this population show how historical ideologies of whiteness- as-domination shaped the habitus of whites during apartheid. Yet, important exceptions to these patterns point to how people's habitus can change, moving whites out of the 'box of being white,' which remains a significant push factor for emigration out of post- apartheid South Africa. Christine Weeber Anthropology Department Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 Spring 2005 IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I thank my life partner, Jeff Lukas, for his compassionate support and encouragement throughout the personal and academic challenges I faced while working on this project. I also appreciate his careful editing of multiple drafts and our many lengthy conversations about South Africa. I am very grateful for each of my committee members. My advisor, Kate Browne, modeled how to be an anthropologist in all ways-through her scholarship, teaching, compassion, and commitment to the truths of people's experiences. In particular, I thank her for her rigorous critique, which was always accompanied by unwavering support. I also appreciate the many ways she graciously adapted to my health challenges. I also am indebted to Norberto Valdez and Blane Harding for their support and guidance throughout this project. In a number of ways, both of them were influential to the development of my interest in the study of race and, in particular, whiteness in South African immigrants. I also want to thank my mother, Milly Weeber. Her unwavering support coupled with her critical feedback and proofreading on an early draft were invaluable. I also appreciate the encouragement of my brother, Russ Weeber, and my sister-in-law, Elaine Murkin, and their support of my work. Completing this project would have been much more difficult if it were not for the graciousness of my friend Bob Mayer, who opened his home to me and Jeff and provided a safe space for me to live and work in. I thank him for sharing his 'healthier home' with me when I most needed one. I also want to recognize Tammi Laninga and Joanne Kaufman for their sustained friendship throughout. F or her help with the transcriptions, lowe enormous thanks to Kristin Fuhrman Clark. I could not have done it alone! I thank Women's Programs and Studies for awarding me the Harriet Patsy Boyer Scholarship, which allowed me to purchase basic materials and transcription assistance for this project. Finally, I want to thank each of my informants. I hope I have done justice to our interviews together. In particular, I hope that this thesis appropriately sketches the shape of your individual and collective experiences and perspectives in all of their similarities and differences. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv List of Figures Vll Chronology viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Apartheid and Post-apartheid South African Identities 5 South African Immigrants 9 Formulating the Research Project and Goals 13 Being White and Privileged 17 Practice Theory 19 Chapter 2: Methods and Ethnographic Experience 24 Interviews 26 Clarifications 31 SA Colorado Club 33 Organizing the Data 40 Ethnographic Reflections 42 Chapter 3: History 50 First Inhabitants: Hunter-Gatherers, Pastoralists, and Semi-agriculturalists 51 European Settlement, Expansion, and Wars 53 British Colonization and Segregation 57 The National Party and Grand Apartheid 61 Resistance to Segregation and Apartheid 67 1980s: the End ofApartheid 72 Post-apartheid South Africa 78 Chapter 4: Literature Review and Theoretical Frameworks 85 Origins ofthe 'Race' Concept 85 "New Racism?" 92 Terminology 97 Whiteness Studies 99 Practice Theory 110 Anthropology ofImmigration 116 Chapter 5: Analysis 121 Growing up in South Africa: "Britain was Everything" 127 "Schizophrenia" 138 "Propaganda and Brainwashing" 150 The Status ofBeing White 161 Afropessimism 170 "Guilt and Responsibility" 186 Migration: Life Changed 198 The Box ofBeing White 211 Nationalism and Racism: Us. versus South Africa 218 Chapter 6: Conclusion 224 Bibliography 236 Appendix I: Interview Questions 246 Appendix II: Survey 248 Glossary 250 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of the settlement regions ofKhoikoi, or Khoisan, and various groups of Bantu-speaking semi-agriculturalists 52 Figure 2. Map of the Great Trek made by Boers, 1836-1854 55 Figure 3. Union of South Africa, 1910. Province names are underlined 58 Figure 4. Map of South Africa during apartheid 66 Figure 5. A classmate carries the body of Hector Peterson, who was shot and killed by police in the Soweto uprising of 1976 71 Figure 6. Province names of the New South Africa, 1994 80 Vll CHRONOLOGY 1652 First European settlement at Cape of Good Hope by Dutch East India Company 1652-1795 Slaves imported from Indonesia, India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Madagascar (Malagasy), and Mozambique 1795 Initial British occupation of the Cape 1807 Abolition of the slave trade 1814 British gain sovereignty over the Cape 1834-38 Cape colonial slaves are freed 1836-54 Great Trek made by Boers into the interior 1838 Battle of Blood River in which Boers defeat the Zulus Boers form the Republic of Natalia 1843 Republic of Natalia annexed by the British 1852 Transvaal recognized as independent from the British, under Boer leadership 1854 Orange Free State gains independence from the British, controlled by Boers 1867 Diamonds discovered in Kimberly 1870 Orange Free State sells Kimberly to British 1877 Transvaal annexed by the British 1880 First Boer War or Anglo-Boer War between British and Boers; Boers win 1881 Independence is restored to Transvaal under control of the Boers 1884 Gold discovered in Transvaal 1899-1902 Second Anglo-Boer War; British win 1902 African Political Organization formed, a Colored political organization 1905 Territorial segregation of whites and Africans supported by South African Native Affairs Commission 1910 Union of South Africa founded 1911 Mine and Works Act legalizes industrial color bar 1912 South African Native National Congress created (later became the African National Congress (ANC)) 1913 Native Land Act limits land ownership by Africans to the reserves or 7% of the land base 1914-19 South Africa participates in WWI as part of British Empire 1917 Anglo-American corporation founded 1921 Communist Party of South Africa founded 1923 South African Indian Congress (SAIC) created 1924 Jan Smut's South African party defeated by Hertzog's Nationalist-Labour party 1926 Colour Bar Act ensures a monopoly on skilled jobs for white mineworkers VIl1 1930 White women given the vote 1933 Coalition government under unified leadership of Hertzog's Nationalist Party and Smut's South Africa Party 1934 D.F. Malan forms the Purified Nationalist Party, representing Afrikaner opponents of Hertzog's coalition policy United Party created by supporters of Hertzog and Smuts 1939-45 South Africa participates in WWII on the side of the Allies 1946 70,000-10,000 African gold-mine workers strike for higher wages; forced back tothe mines by troops 1948 Afrikaner Nationalist Party defeats the United Party; Grand Apartheid begins 1949 Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act 1950 Population Registration Act, everyone classified by race Group Areas Act, forced residential